Bourbon Bracketology

[Bourbon Boiler]

I have selected 64 whiskeys according to my collection, friends' collections, and general availability. I have seeded them based upon formal reviews, price point, and hype. Over the course of the NCAA Tournament, I plan sample them against each other and declare a champion. A few notes:

1. The tasting will be as blind as possible, but there will be limitations.

2. The seeds were altered a bit to avoid matchups of very similar products in early rounds.

3. In the event that I do not have both drinks available on the correct night, I will rely on others who have both available to report a winner.

4. I will follow the tournament schedule loosely - I have no intention of drinking 32 different whiskeys both Thurday and Friday.

Let the fun begin!!!

[cbus]

That, sir, is a great idea! Wish I had access to 64 whiskeys. Maybe someday in the future... Post the results when you get them!

[Bourbon Boiler]

It appears I am unable to upload as an excel file. Here is a poor .pdf of the tourney.

Bourbon Bracketology.pdf

Bourbon Bracketology.pdf

[gburger]

Brilliant!

I am raising a class to you.

Gregg

[CADMixes]

Love it--I will be following closely!

[SDpappy]

Very cool. Are you drinking the barrel proof bourbon at a lower proof? Pretty easy to tell the Stagg I bet!

[Bourbon Boiler]

My plan is to drink everything neat at bottle proof. In some matchups will be obvious to tell the difference, so it will be impossible to eliminate all biases. I do think there will be some "upsets", particularly as some of my regulars require the right mood and setting.

[Bourbon Boiler]

I also encourage audience participation!

[sku]

What are those homemade whiskeys?

[Bourbon Boiler]

What are those homemade whiskeys?

I bought white dogs (Wheated bourbon, rye bourbon, rye whiskey) last summer and am aging them. I've already bottled the wheater, and hte other two are still in the barrel. They are 16 seeds, so I'm not expecting much from them.

[c2walker]

I'm looking forward to the potential Woodford Double Oak vs. Woodford Double Oak matchup

[mosugoji64]

This sounds like a lot of fun! Seeing what comes out on top will be great, especially if it's something unexpected. Keep us posted, and let the games begin!

[HP12]

Bourbon Brackets...good idea.

May I suggest adding regions? Something like; Mashbill, White Dog, Barrel and Rick House regions?

Can't believe PHC 4th and WLW got snubbed! :grin:

[jcg9779]

There's almost always a 12 seed that wins over a 5 seed in the tournament. If I were conducting this tasting, that upset would be Bulleit over Noah's Mill.

I just can't get into NM...it ALWAYS tastes hot to me (and I've tried multiple bottles, both NAS and the 15 year).

[p_elliott]

Very cool idea :cool:

[sob0728]

Four Roses Single Barrel a 10 seed? Billy Packer (and Jim Rutledge) are outraged!

[ncmussell]

Wood ford double oak is in there twice! Not fair

[GreggJ]

This is a great idea. I will definitely be following this one closely.

Let the Games Begin!!!

[jburlowski]

What is RR 80???????????????????????

[Bourbon Boiler]

I'm looking forward to the potential Woodford Double Oak vs. Woodford Double Oak matchup

Fixed. Lot B was supposed to be in there.

[Bourbon Boiler]

Many great whiskeys didn't make the field. I only put in what I believe to have easy access to. I think I will name the regions.

[StraightBoston]

Brilliant idea -- we'll be expecting frequent updates!

[Bourbon Boiler]

What is RR 80???????????????????????

A typo which I have corrected.. Should be RR 90 - The 90 proof version of Russell's Reserve. I was cross-eyed by the time I finished this.

[Fpst]

Just want to say, this is a great idea! Well done sir!

[Steve99]

This is a great idea! :bowdown:

I'd like to try and play along myself, but I'd have to make some substitutions which would probably throw off the seedings. I think it would also take me much longer than March to work through, but it could at least give some direction to my tasting and be a lot of fun.

My wife would probably get tired of pouring for me so it is blind -- do you have some other methodology for setting up the blind tasting that you can do on your own?

I know it's a "bourbon" bracket -- but ESPN is crying about Jack Daniels having their bubble burst!

Steve